Printing-press.



A. J. FORD.

PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION IILED JAN. 15, 1912.

1,092,830; Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A. J. FORD. PRINTING PRESS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15, 1912.

1,,@9Q,.83(La Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mg? 66 "lul 67 lllllllll' WITNESSES INVENTOR A. J. FORD. PRINTING PRESS.nrmmnon 211.111) JAN. 15, 1912.

1.,U92983U. Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

W/ T/VESSES' A. J. FORD.

PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15, 1912. 1,092,830. S Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES 4% I Mad dug l 1 ATTOR/IIZ'Y A. J. FORD.

PRINTING PRESS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15. time.

. ,33 Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

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WITNESSES D A IIWENTOI? 410 mam/ MM A. J. FORD.

PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION IILED JAN.15, 1912.

1,092,830., Patented Apr. 14,1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

WITNESSES INVEll/TOR as A- ALBERT J. roan, on EW YORK, n. Y.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed January 15, 1912.Serial No. 671,199.

Patented Apr. 114, 1914.

certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Presses, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings, forming part thereof. I I

My invention relates to printing presses and more particularly tomulti-color oflset presses. a e

The object of the invention 1s to produce a press suited to printdirectly upon cylindrical work, for example, to print in colors uponmetal tubes.

Iii-carrying out my invention I provide a work carrier having anintermittent or stepby-step shifting movement for bringing a pluralityof work-carrying rollers or impressing rollers successively intocooperative relation with a printing cylinder or transfer cylinder, andI provide a plurality of plate cylinders to print in different colorssuccessively on'the transfer surface or blanket of the transfercylinder.

My invention includes the features of construction and combinations ofparts hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

I shall now describe a printing press embodying my invention'andillustrated in the accompanying drawings and shall thereafter point outmy invention in claims.

Figure .1 is a. front view of the press, the base of the frame beingomitted, and shows the printing elements. Fig. 2 is a rear view of thepress, illustrating the actuating mechanisms. Fig. 3 is an enlargedhoriz ontal section on planes indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig.4 is a further enlargedpartialhorizontal section on a plane indicated bythe line 4-4 of Figs.- 2 and 6 and particularly-shows the adjustingmechanism for the work carrier. Fig. 5 is a vertica-l sectional detailon a plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.-. Fig. 6 is a verticalsection on a plane indicated by the lines 66 of Figs. 3 and 4, drawn tothe scale of Fig. 4,

parts 1n the background being omitted. Fig. 7 is a similar view on aplane indicated by the line 77 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a detail as viewedfrom the right in Fig. 7. Fig. 9is

illustrates the adjusting devices of one of Y the plate cylinders. Fig.10 is a view from the left of Fig. 9, or a detail front elevation, withparts broken away. Fig. 11 is a vertical section on a plane indicated bythe line 1111\o'f Fig. 9 as viewed from the right.

The printing press illustrated in the drawings and embodying myinvention has a transfer cylinder l-fixedon the projecting end of ashaft 2 having bearings in a press frame 3. The transfer cylinder 1 isprovided with a rubber blanket 4 for receiving the impression that is tobe transferred to the workl The'direction of rotation of the transfercylinder 1 is counter-clockwise .as viewed from the front of the press,as indicated by the arrow 5 (Fig. 1). Plate cylinders 6 are disposedaround the periphery of the transfer cylinder 1 and are shown as four innumber, for successively printing four colors on the blanket 4, theplate cylinders being provided with metallic printing plates 7 '(Fig.9). Each of the plate cylinders is carried by a shaft 8 havlng bearingsin the frame 3'. A work-carrying disk 9 is fixed on the projecting endof a shaft 10 which is parallel with the transfer cylinder shaft 2. Thecarrier disk 9 is provided eccentrically, at points equidistant from itsaxis and equidistant circumferentially from each other, with projectingspindles 11, shown as six in number, upon each of which is rotativelymounted a work-receiving impression roller 12. The carrier disk 9 isgiven a step-by-step or intermlttent rotation to bring the work-carryingimpression rollers l2 successively into cooperative relation with thetransfer cylinder 1, so that the multi-color impression will be printedfrom the blanket 4 upon the work on the impression rollers 12 as theserollers are successively brought to the impression position, theimpression rollers being rotated by frictional contact of the blanket 4with the cylindrical work carried by the impression rollers.

The several cooperative features of the press will now be particularlydescribed.

Usual or suitable inking mechanisms are provided for the plate cylinders6, and parts of such mechanisms are shown in outline in Figs. 1 and 2.

As the plate cylinders print upon a common transfer blanket 4, and theplates 7 of the different plat-e cylinders are not always of exactly.the same thickness, an adjusting device is provided for each platecylinder for independently adjusting the pressure of its plate on thetransfer blanket. To provide for this adjustment the plate cylindershafts 8 are journalcd in eccentric sleeves 13 rotatively mounted in theframe 3, these sleeves being rotatively adjustable by means of arms 14engaged at opposite sides by adjusting screws 15 threa ed through lugsof the press frame. The sleeves 13 may be firmly locked in adjustedposition by means of set screws 16 (one of which is shown in Fig. 9)pressing blocks 17 against the sleeves. The plate cylinders arealsoadjustable rot-a tively relatively to each other .and to the transfercylinder 1.- The illustrated means providing this rotativeadjustment'include flanged collars 18 splined on the reduced ends of theplate cylinder shafts 8 (Figs. 9 and 10) and held in place by Washers 19and tap bolts 20. The collars 18 are provided with arcuate slots foradjustably receiving clamp-bolts 21 which passthrough these slots andscrew into actuating gears 22. These actuating gears 22 are rotativelymounted relatively to the plate cylinder shafts 8 and collars 18 and areclamped in proper relation to the plate cylinders by means of theclamp-bolts 21. All of the actuating gears 22 mesh with a master gear 23fixed on the cylinder shaft 2, so that the actuating gears 22, andlikewise the plate cylinders 6 when the clamp bolts .21 are tightened,are rotated in timed relation with the transfer cylindefl. Forefiectinga rotative adjustment ofthe plate cylinders 6 of greater extent thanthat provided by the arcuate slots in .the collars 18, the. actuatinggears 22 may be removed merely by remcvs ing the tap bolts 20,and-replaced atohanged meshing points with the master gear 23 In thedrawingsthe work upon which the printing is being doneis shown: asc0mpara= tively small cylindrical tubes 24, such astlie smaller size oftooth paste tubes, such: tubes being of thin soft'metal, the thicknessofr the walls being exaggerated in Fig. 4 for illustrative pu oses.However, the press is adapted to prlnt on tubes of either larger orsmaller size, both as to diameter and length of the tubes. For thisurpose the spindles '11 are readily removab e, together with thework-carrying impression rollers 12 for the substitutionof otherspindles and rollers of other lengths and diameters according to thesize of the work. Each spindle 11 is provided with a tapered base plug25 and a screw-threaded stud 26,the plug 25 fitting into acorrespondingly tapered socket opening in the carrier disk 9 and beingfirmly and rigidly retained in place by a nut 1 jastin 27 and washer 28on the stud 26. As the machine is shown at work upon comparatively smalltubes, much smaller than the full dimensional capacity of the machine,the print-ing surfaces of the printing plates will be small and theplates as a whole may be corres ondingly small, and the printingplateshown in Fig. 9 occupies but a small part of the length of the platecylinder, the remaining space being filled up by blank rings 29, therings and plate being clamped 'in place by usual plate clamps 30screwthreaded over the ends of the plate cylinder 6: See also Fig. 3.

To provide for the use of impression rollers of different diameters, forsupporting tubes of different sizes, and also to regulate the pressureof the transfer blanket 4 on the tubes, adjusting mechanism is providedfor the carrier disk 9. The carrier shaft 10 is ':journaled in slidablebearing blocks 31 and '32 adjustable along horizontal guideways providedin the frame of the press. For effecting such adjustment the slidablehearing blocks are respectively provided with adjusting screws 33 and34, one of which has righthand and the other left hand screw-threads, asshown in Fig. 4. The adjusting'screws 33 and 34 are respectivelyprovided with adjusting nuts consisting of bevel pinions 35 and. 36respectively threaded ;upon them. Each bevel pinion- 35 and 36 abutsinner and outer frame members 37 and 38, the press through pass (seeFig. 4)

;, 'Alined abutting stub shafts 40 and 41 have ends journaled in theouter frame jmembers'38. The stub shaft 40 has keyed thereon a, bevelpinion 42 and a hand wheel 43, the pinion 42 meshing with the adjustingbevel pinion 35 on the adjusting screw 33. The stub shaft 41 ha keyedthereon a bevel pinion 44 and an adjusting disk 45, the pinwhich areheld rigidly in place on frame by bolts 39 (see Fig. 6), and

:ion 44 meshing with the pinion 36 on the dscrew 34. The hand wheel 43and 'he'adjusting' disk 45 are adjustably clamped together by clampingbolts 46 passing through arcuate slots in the disk 45 and screwing intothe hand wheel 43 (see Fig. 5) When the hand wheel 43 is' rotated, withthe clamping bolts 46 tightened, the bevel pinions 42 and 44 will berotated in unison, and the carrier disk 9 will be moved bodily toward oraway from the transfer cylinder according to the direction of rotationof he hand wheel, thereby adjusting the pressure of the blanket 4 on theWork or moving the carrier 9 to a different position in accordance withthe size of the work and corresponding diameter of the impressionrollers carried by the carrier9. Angular adjustment of the carrier disk9, to secure exa'ct alinement with the transfer cylinder and which. theadjusting screws freely.

even pressure upon the work, is accomplished by loosening the clampingbolts 46 and rotating the hand wheel, the bevel pinions 42 and 35 thenbeing rotated and the bevel pinions 44 and 36 remaining stationary. Theouter ends of the adjusting screws 35 and 36 are provided with jam nuts47 for rigidly preserving the carrier 9 in adjusted position.

Carrier-shifting mechanism is provided for imparting the intermittentstep-by-step rotative shifting movement to the carrierdisk 9, suchmechanism including a pawland-ratchet device for imparting intermit- 5tent partial rotations to the carrier 9and a latch device for holdingthe carrier at any position to which it is rotatively shifted. Asix-toothed ratchet wheel 48 is fixed on the rearwardly-projectingportion of the carrier shaft 10 (see Figs. 2 and 3) and is actuatable bya gravity pawl 49 pivoted on an upwardly-extending arm 50 which ispivoted on the end of the carrier shaft just outward from the ratchet48. A link 51 connects the arm 50 to a crank disk 52 fixed on the end ofthe rearwardly-projecting portion of the transfer cylinder shaft 2, thelink 51 being shown in two parts clamped together by bolts to providelongitudinal adjustment of the link commensurate with the adjustment ofthe carrier 9 hereinbefore noted. substantially a half rotation of thecylinder shaft 2 from the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 will imparta one-sixth rotation to the carrier shaft 10, the latter remainingstationary during the remainder of a complete rotation of the cylindershaft 2. The parts are so arranged that when the carrier 9 is stationaryone of..the impression rollers 12 l0 will be stoppedat the transfer orimpression position. The latch device for holding the impression rollerat the transfer position will now be described. A peripherally notchedlocking .5 disk 53 is fixed on the carrier shaft 10 just outwardly fromthe bearing block 31, and the notches therein, six in number,corresponding to the stationary positions of the carrier 9, are adaptedto receive the end of 0 a latchbolt 54 guided in horizontal waysprovided in a bracket 55 extending from the bearing block 31. The latch54 is actuated by a downwardly-extendin lever arm 56 carried by a rockshaft 57 ournaled in the 5 bracket 55 and also journaled in an auxiliarysupport 58 embracing the carrier shaft '10 and rigidly united to thebracket 55 by a cylindrical bar 59. The rock shaft 57 is actuated by anupwardly-extending lever 60,

D which is connected by a link 61 with the upper end of anupwardly-extending curved lever 62 which is pivoted at its lower end tothe press frame 3 and carries intermediate of its length a cam-roller63. The 'camroller 63 is engaged by a peripheral cam 64 carried by thetransfer cylinder shaft 2. The cam 64 is so shaped and disposed as toretract the latch bolt 54 just prior to the actuation of the ratchetwheel 48 and to permit the latch bolt to be returned to locking positionwhen the next succeeding notch in the locking disk 53 is brought toregister therewith, this being the impression position for the nextsuccessive impression roller 12. The latch bolt is returned to thelocking position by an extension coiled spring 65 (Fig. 3) stretchedbetween a stud on the link 61 and the auxiliary rock-shaft-supp0rt 58.The link 61 is adjustably connected to the lever 60 by means of ashouldered stud bolt 66 pivoted in the lever 60 and clamped by a nut ina longitudinal slot in the link 61.

.The return of the latch bolt 54 to the look ing position is facilitatedby making itslocking end, and also the notches in the locking disk 53,slightly tapered, as shown.

The blanket 4 must, of course, be of a length corresponding to thecircumference of the largest work within the capacity of the press, withthe result that more than one complete rotation of the work of thesmaller sizes will'be made with the work in contact with the blanket 4by which, as hereinbefore stated, it is frictionally rotated. To preventblurring of the impression, the plate cylinders 6 are rotativelyadjusted so as to print the impression on the last portion or thefollowing end portion of the blanket, so that the transfer of theimpression to the Work will be completed just as the end of the blanketis reached (see Fig. 1), the leading portion of the blanket being leftblank.

This 1s an important feature of operation provided for by theconstruction hereinbefore described.

In the press illustrated in the drawings the intermittent rotation orshifting movements of the carrier 9 are in a clockwise direction whenviewed from the front of the press and as indicated by the arrow 67 inFig. 1. 1

There being six spindles on the work carrier, the operator has plenty oftime to remove the printed tubes and replace them with blanks, all ofvthe spindles being accessible excepting the one which is in coiiperativerelation with the transfer cylinder. To facilitate the placing of theblanks on ,the impression rollers of the spindles, a chute or hopper 68is provided from which the lowermost blank tube may be pushed directlyover an impression roller. Should any of the tubes be misshaped ordented at the ends they may be reshaped on an expander 69 at theadjacent end of the carrier 10, which is provided for that purpose. Thisexpander is removable so that an expander adapted to the work being donemay be employed.

. The press may be driven from any source scribed within the principleand scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. A printing press having in combination a printing cylinder, arotatively shiftable carrier mounted to rotate on an axis parallel withthe axis of the printing cylinder, a plurality of impression rollerseccentrically carried by the carrier in parallel relation with the axisthereof, spaced bearings for the carrier, an adjusting device for eachbearing, amanually actuatable member, actuating connections between suchmember and one of said devices, and releasable actuating connectionsbetween such member and the othersaid device.

2. A printing press having in combination a printing cylinder, arotatively shiftable carrier mounted to rotate on an axis parallel withthe axis of the printing cylinder, a plurality of spindles removablycarried by the carrier and projecting therefrom in eccentric relationthereto and parallel with the axis thereof, an impression rollerrotatively mounted on and removable with each spindle, carrier-shiftingmechanism for imparting step-by-step rotation to the carrier to therebysuccessively shift the impression rollers into cooperative relation withthe printing cylinder, spaced bearings for the carrier, an adjustingdevice for each bearing, a manually actuatable member, and actuatingconnections between such member and both of said devices.

3. A printing press having in combinationa printing cylinder, aplurality of impression rollers, a rotatively shiftable carrier for theimpression rollers, means for removably supporting the impressionrollers on the carrier, carrier-shifting mechanism for impartingstep-by-step rotation to the carrier for successively shifting theimpression rollers into cooperative relation with the printing cylinder,a pair of slidable bearing blocks for the carrier shaft, an adjustingscrew for each block, an adjusting nut for each screw, a hand wheel, andactuating means connecting the wheel to each of the nuts.

4. A printing press having in combination a printing cylinder, arotatively shiftable carrier mounted to rotate on an axis parallel withthe axis of the printing cylinder, a plurality of impression rollersremovably carried by the carrier and projecting therefrom in eccentricrelation thereto and parallel with the axis thereof, carrier-shiftingmechanism for imparting step-by-step rotation to the carrier forsuccessively shifting the impression rollers into cooperative relationwith the printing cylinder, spaced bearings for the carrier, an adjustindevice for each bearing, a manually actuata le member, actuatingconnections between such member and one of said devices, and releasableactuating connections between such member and the other said device,whereby the carrier may be adjusted either bodily or angularlyrelatively to the printing cylinder for regulating the pressure betweenthe impression rollers and the printing cylinder and also providing forthe use of impression rollers of difierent diameters.

5. An ofiset'printing press having in combination a plurality of platecylinders, a single transfer cylinder common to and cooperative with allof the plate cylinders, a pressure adjusting device for each platecylinder for adjusting its pressure on the transfer cylinder relativelyto the pressure thereon of the other plate cylinders, a plurality ofimpression rollers, a rotatively shiftable carrier for the impressionrollers, means for removably supporting the impression rollers on thecarrier, carrier-shifting mechanism for imparting step-by-step rotationto the carrier for successively shifting. the impression rollers intocooperative relation with the transfer cylinder, and adjusting mechanismfor regulating the pressure between the transfer cylinder and theimpression rollers and also providing for the use of impression rollersof different diameters.

6. A printing press havin in combination a printing cylinder, a carrierrotative in a plane parallel with the plane of rotation of the printingcylinder, a shaft rotative with the carrier, a plurality of impressionrollers eccentrically carried by the carrier in parallel relation withthe axis thereof, carriershifting mechanism for imparting step-bysteprotation to the carrier for successively shifting the impression rollersinto cooperative'relation with the printing cylinder, a pair of slidablebearing blocks for the carrier shaft, an adjusting screwfor each block,an adjusting nut for each screw, a hand wheel, actuating meansconnect-ing the wheel to one of the nuts, and releasable actuating meansconnecting the wheel to the other nut.

7. An offset printing press having in combination a plurality of platecylinders, a single transfer cylinder common to and cooperative with allof the plate" cylinders, a pressure adjusting device for each platecylinder for adjusting its pressure on the transfer cylinder relativelyto the pressure thereon of the other plate cylinders, a carrier rotativein a plane parallel with the plane of rotation of the transfer cylinder,a plurality of impression rollers eccentrically carried by the carrierin parallel relation with the axis thereof, earner-shifting mechanismfor im- 1 parting step-by-step rotation to the carrier In testimonywhereof I have aflixed my foi'l successively shifting 1the imprfissignsignature in presence of two witnesses.

r0 ers into 006 erative re ation wit t e transfer cylindei and adjustingmechanism ALBERT FORD 5 for the carrier for regulating the pressureWitnesses:

between the transfer cylinder and the im- V. Dmnz, Jr.,

pression rollers. HARRY GHEwIs.

